Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Felt Nine Solo, 2009 XL. I bought the bike on closeout at the end of last season. Riding SS with thighs the size of tooth picks has proven to be less than pleasurable. Since I purchased my new mtb, I never ride it.
Top tube scratch from a simple over the bar ejection. Brake lever touched the top tube.

No other marks are on the bike. The bike is completely stock plus I will include 16, 18, 19, 20? (I think without digging through my junk box) cogs, a longer chain for the 19 & 20, a white Cateye Strada wireless computer and Shimano SPD pedals. - 800 or best offer. I don't want to put this on ebay. A bike this size will be murderous on shipping charges.

Cannondale CAAD7 size 58cm.

Close up of the bar end shifters and Cane Creek brake hoods.

9spd gears with a 105 mech.

Shimano SPD pedals and the close up to show the finish is falling off the Bontrager crank.
Crank is triple compatible. Will install granny gear and adjust shifting at your request.
This bike will sell as is for $350. If you don't want to ride it pink I will paint it for an additional $50. Pay the $50 as a deposit and then pay the rest when the bike is picked up. It would probably take me 2-3 days max to get it finished. Single color spray can only.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

So my main problem with all this iPhone junk is the way that people are absorbed into their phones as if they are the Holy Grail of everything that is sheer awesomeness. The guys at Apple have definitely done something to the American ego that it really needed. It gave it an expensive, fragile, and disgusting thing to make us love ourselves that much more. Going on a trip and need to know how to get there, some tunes for the drive, and maybe check movies times? Use the iPhone. It does all that shit. While in the car. And it still fits in your pocket. As long you aren't a male packed into a size 5 girls super skinny jean. The problem is if you are going to the movies around the corner from your house you can make it in 2 songs and a commercial for grillz on HOT! 107.1 - The station where hip hop lives in Memphis. I don't need directions. And the movie times are in the newspaper (holy sweet baby jeebus printed material) or on the internet or even better posted on the side of the buidling. While I am impressed by the ability of some people to multitask I just don't have that ability. Furthermore the iPhone takes the adventure out of alot of stuff - the oppostite of what it is desgined to do. Out for a bike ride? Oh snap let me crank on some pandora, put in my head phones, then scream what at you everytime you try to talk to me. Or better yet, I'll answer my phone and ride while talking on the phone. When I get back to my car I'll kill myself. Me and my leg-crushing riding partner/hoss Mama have had this discussion and decided they are selling you a feeling of excitement - because your life sucks. Not to dwell on the swagger wagon, my Focus hatcback is pretty much just a British Racing Green swagger shell on wheels. Or a decent mpg car to haul my broke butt around in. Anyways back to why the iPhone sucks. It is fragile. If you don't believe me ask above mentioned Andrea to throw her phone. Ask her 3 beers later and you better have a hockey mask on. She has a tough phone. My dad has a tough phone. The kind that can ring underwater and shit like that. But I love to have a big fragile screen so when I go down on a road ride not only can I break my Di2 shifter, but my iPhone in my pocket that has EVERY contact, song, todo list, photo, sexting highlights, and my pathetic link to the outside world. I have a phone that is a full touch screen and I absolutely hate it. It gets disgusting. Working on a dirty bike and your phone rings - damn dirty screen. Want to return some missed calls when I get back to the Focus - AKA British Racing Green Swagger Hatch of Pure Win - I have a 2.5 x 4 inch screen of sweat/road grime/sunscreen that I can't read through to make my next call. And I know any screen gets dirty, but there is just so much of it.

Now that I have ranted and rambled I am going to do a few chores around the house I am dog sitting, eat a bowl of oatmeal big enough to cripple a pony - I eat like a horse - and rightfully so. I will drive to my parents house because my dad got a new grill for father's day and wants to load it with once innocent animals for my enjoyment.

When I get there I will do a short road ride that includes a stretch of gravel that once vibrated both my bottle cages lose with cross tires on. Today I will tackle said ride with 700x23s.

I am interested in selling my beater road bike and possibly my SS mountain bike also. If I am in your size range and you are interested then get at me. I need to start saving for my next venture.

Friday, June 25, 2010

So I have a few quirks and a few oddities.
For starters I am OCD like you wouldn't believe. I mean I am not like the boy wonder or anything but I definitely am picky about stuff. I have a weird thing about hating my t-shirts, I have a long torso so either the shirt is too short or it hangs on my 145 pound frame like sheets on the clothesline. Picture it. Now just be glad when I wear the small shirts I'm not rocking it like this. PS this doesn't exist. You are just out of luck. I digress back to my OCD ways.

Another thing I hate is when someone says a sentence with a question mark at the end. If it is a statement then just say it. Don't be coy and "ask" about it just so someone will answer you "yeah that's right". I have taken up the phrase "No that wasn't a question, it was a statement".

Moving on with things that make me want to cause bodily harm is when someone pulls out in front of you then turns shortly afterwards. Last night on my bike some guy in a Toyota truck passed me like I was spraying AIDS out of the back of my chamois then turned on the next side street. I counted my seconds til I turned on the same street. 5 seconds. Think of how you might get your Facebook friends list loaded in that time. Sweet baby Jeebus I guess that does make sense. I am going to start doing that because all those 5 seconds add up to real time to do stuff like read this blog.

I like to make big plates of scrambled eggs loaded with cheese and ham for breakfast. 4 eggs, white cheeses, spices, diced up ham. Damn it tastes good and with a metabolism like mine it might last 2-3 hours if I am lucky.

I also love tp wrap handlebars. It is one of those things that just makes the bike look awesome when you have the wrap stacked on the bar all nice and neat like a row of cork gel soldiers just waiting to be the first defense between your palms and the harsh roads below you. I haven't ventured out and done any two tape wraps yet, but I am sure I will learn this winter. I want to get it dialed so I can wrap my next bike like that.

I get an almost unhealthy level of excitement to glue tubulars. Insert jokes about getting high on the rubber cement here. But I'm not this chick. I couldn't resist. Back to my joy of tubs. You get to get mean on a new tire and stretch it onto a clincher wheel and let it stretch. Then you have to wait overnight. So the next morning you can come in and before lunch, while still running on eggs and ham, I can strip off your old tire (more anger and mean) and then clean up your rim with some high tech stuff - acetone and a rag. Then I put some coats of glue on the tire and the rim. Stretch, center, inflate, more centering. BOOM you did an awesome job that the customer will never appreciate. Sort of like the guy that actually makes the bad ass stuff for NASA so the shuttle can make it to space without imploding and everyone is stoked on the astronauts.

That's enough. Maybe later tonight I will post up some stuff with pictures from my real life. Maybe not. I haven't decided.

I kept the last tub I removed and I am going to unsew the tire and pull the tube out and then put it back in and see if I can air it up and it still be rideable. . . . minus the spot where tread is missing because some triathlete slid into transition. . . .

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

I went to the top of the mountain in vans classic slip-ons. The foot cramps on the descending side were well worth it. What a way to end a nice ride. I'll post some pics from the fireroads when I get them . . . hint hint.